Concrete transporting body



March 6, 1951 WARNER 2,544,202

CONCRETE TRANSPORTING BODY Filed- March 16, 1948 IN VEN TOR.

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v um'rno sures, PATENT OFFICE Irvin: Warner, Wilmington, Del.

Application March 16, 1948, serial No. 15.057

l This invention relates to a body for transporting previously mixedconcrete and has for its primary objects the provision of more simple,

lighter weight, more inexpensive and more easily cleaned equipment forthis purpose.

Before proceeding with a more detailed description of the invention Iwish to refer briefly to present practice because this will serve toemtion and to discharge the load. As a general rule the drumis rovolvedin one'direction during transit and in the opposite direction duringdischarge of the load. Such revolving drums are also used for mixingoperations in transit where the body is charged with the necessaryingredients and mixing takes place during transportation. It isunderstood, of course, that the drums are suitably mounted on trucks.Equipment of this type has been costly to buy as well as to maintain andin addition has been exceedingly heavy which, of course, reduces thepotential pay load. Furthermore, the drums are difficult to clean. a

How the objects of my invention may be at tached is illustrated in apreferred form in the accompanying drawing wherein Figure 1 is adiagrammatic side elevation of a truck equipped with my improvedconcrete transporting body, the body being shown partly in longitudinalsection;

Figure 2 is a view partly in elevation and partly in section takenapproximately as indicated by the line 22 of Figure 1 but with a portionof the lower wall of the transporting body broken away and in section;

Figure 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Figure l; and

Figure 4 is an elevation in the direction indicated by the line'l4 ofFigure 1.

I mount my improved body I on the truck frame 6 in any'desired manner-inthe present instance by means of the supporting framework 1. The body iselongated to extend lengthwise of the truck and is provided with aninclined, rounded-bottom hopper or trough B centrally located andextending along the len h of the body. The

sides to of thehopper por ion are suitably in clined to feed theconcrete toward the low point.

In the rounded bottom I place a ribbon type Preferably the gate movesupwardlyto open and 2 Claims. (01. 259-169) screw conveyor 9 the fullweight of which is carricd directly on the curved bottom of the trough8. Since no bearings are employed it is free to move in directionstransverse the axis of the conveyor. It will be noted that the curve ofthe bottom conforms to the curvature of the conveyor and if desired thetrough portion in which the conveyor fits may be faced with hard linersin order to reduce wear.

At the upper end of the incline the trough or rounded bottom is providedwith a discharge opening Ill controlled by a correspondingly curved gateII mounted at the sides in trackways 12 which provide for slidingmovement of the gate .in a direction longitudinally of the trough. Thegate is moved by a duplicate rack and pinion mechanism It by means ofthe hand wheel ll.

downwardly to close because this will tend to keep the opening clear.

Below the opening is a fixed chute or spout ll adapted to deliver intothe pivoted chute i8 7 whereby the concrete may be deposited in anydesired direction,

At its upper end there is connected to the axis member 9a of theconveyor a flexible driving shaft l|--in this instance what is known asa Cardan shaft having a pair of universal joints l8. However, anysuitable type of flexible drive may be employed which will permitmovement of the conveyor in directions transversely of its axis while atthe same time holding the conveyor in its proper position longitudinallyof the axis. At the outer end the flexible driving connection" may beprovided with a suitable gear l9 driven by a worm 20 which in turnreceives its power from any desired source on the truck either directlyfrom the engine of the truck or from an auxiliary engine. auxiliaryengine 2| is illustrated, power from which is delivered to the wormshaft 20 by means of a belt 22 operating on a pulley 23. Whatever speedcontrol for the engine 2| that may be required or desired can, ofcourse, be readilyprovided.

In use the body is charged with the desired, amount of previously mixedconcrete and the conveyor is set to run preferably at a relatively lowrate of speed. During transit the conveyor" carries the concrete fromthe lower end and causes it to well up toward the surface at the highend, the gate ll, of course, being closed.

In the present instance, an

action is simple and eflective and I have found that the conveyor drawsthe material in largely although not entirely at the low end there beingsuflicient pushing out" and pulling in" of the mass throughout thelength of the conveyor to insure an effective and steady re-mixingoperation.

If any large pieces of the material such as coarse aggregate tend tobecome jammed between theflights of the conveyor and the shell or wallsof the trough in which it rides, no damage will result because with myinvention the conveyor simply rides up until it has rolled theobstruction free or until .the obstruction passes into the clearancebetween flights.

On arrival at the point where the concrete is to be discharged theconveyor is preferably driven at a higher speed and the gate is openedeither partially or fully so that the concrete may be delivered in thequantity and at the rate desired.

I prefer to slope the sides in of the body at approximately 45' or morebecause I have found that this will make the equipment substantiallyself-cleaning. when the work for the day is completed the body ma becleaned quite readily with a hose while the conveyor is rotating withthe discharge gate open. 1

I claim:

1. A body for agitating and transporting concrete, said body having ahopper with sides sloping toward an elongated, rounded-bottom trough,said trough being inclined between said sloping arranged so thatagitation and circulation or themay be elected and jamming of theconveyor avoided.

2. A body in accordance with claim 1, which has in addition a dischargeopening at the upper end of the trough together with a gate forcontrolling the discharge therethrough.

IRVING WARNER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the die oithis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 662,978 Schmidt Dec. 4, 19001,960,692 Brown et al May 29, 1934 2,139,027 McConnaughay Dec. 6, 193812,333,739 Puckett Nov. 9, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date159,533 Germany Oct. 9, 1903

